Part of the appeal of Extreme Metal is the scarcity of supply. A short release of vinyl, cassette, or digipack CDs makes attainment of them a challenge. Thankfully many metalheads are both collectors and completionists. We treasure the hard to find and prefer the obscure to the popular. It's in our nature as outsiders. As soon as a band approaches anything that smells like mainstream success, hardcore metalists shun them. INTERNMENT (Black Metal from Atlanta, Georgia not Death Metal from Avesta, Sweden) is one of those bands whose releases are indeed rare finds. Until now, thanks to a re-release through The Chalice Productions.

INTERMNET formed in 2016 led by Thoth Imperius. In 2018 the band released a two-track called "Demo MMXVII"; in 2019 they then issued a nine-track, full-length album: "Chained to the Moon"; and in late 2019 they contributed a track to "Worship of Eternal Darkness II" compiled by Askio Productions. If you own any of these albums in hard format, you are one of the fortunate. Thankfully, in April 2023, The Chalice Productions gathered all of these artifacts into a new version of "Chained to the Moon" to appease the grueling masses who weren't dogged enough to acquire the previous releases.

Altogether, the 2023 version of "Chained to the Moon" includes 12 tracks reaching 51 minutes of runtime. If nothing else, INTERNMENT is a highly consistent band, so the entire album flows together quite well. The overall production values of all 12 tracks are heavily grayscape, though with enough definition to punch through the lo-fi haze with some supremely visceral assaults. The two demo tracks are more analog than the rest, but still very well done.

The first nine tracks are from the original "Chained to the Moon" album. It opens with "Saturnian Offering," a short acoustic piece overlaid with spoken word. It effectively establishes a cold, dark atmosphere which suggests ritual. As one might expect, the ninth track and the original closer to the 2019 LP, "In Nominene Sathanas," is another atmospheric piece, though this time all synth. It's decidedly cosmic in its vibe and not nearly as satisfying as the opener is. With those two tracks acting as bookends, the central tracks like "Still I burn," "Hanging Coffins" (featuring J. Sweat), and "The Underworld King" provide the bulk of viscera through tremolo riffs, demonic vocals, and galloping blast beats.

The two tracks from "Demo MMXVIII" are excellent, my favorite being the slightly muted "The Shadow of the Realm." The track from the Askio compilation, "Flaying the Angel Scum," is a bit thrashy in its delivery, but is completely unrelenting. The solo is utterly scathing. Out of all the tracks, the only slight regret the four-minute plus, synth-saturated ambience piece "Passage into Dreamed Hellscape." When taken in context of the full twelve-track version, it lands in the center and therefore may be considered an interlude.

As we all know, there is plenty of runway between total obscurity of wild popularity. There is little chance INTERNMENT will be selling out a stadium anytime soon, and that's just fine. This re-issue gives us mortal collectors a chance to get hold of some premium Black Metal which may have otherwise slipped out of our grasp.